The present invention relates to an energy absorption element and more especially to an energy absorption element designed for use on a vehicular steering wheel.
In the case of most of the known energy absorbing deformation elements which are used in connection with steering wheels and steering wheel shafts of motor vehicles as safety protection, for example, when the body of the driver impacts against the steering wheel in collision accidents or the like, the danger exists that, upon an impact load, portions of the element lay down toward the inside over the steering wheel spindle or hub, and thus block a significant portion of the deformation path. Even in the case of the so-called cross-lattice deformation elements, which consist of a cylindrical tubular body formed of lattice rods, a significant portion of the deformation path is lost because of the required connecting webs and intersection knots between the lattice rods, which collapse upon one another into a block under a load and thus reduce the theoretical deformation path. In order to maintain the required deformation path, it is therefore necessary to construct such devices correspondingly higher, which is often not possible because of lack of space.